The Light's Always Red in the Rearview
by SprintDiplomacy
Summary: Anna is any extremely bright and talented witch. She had her whole life set the way she wanted it, with no one or thing stopping her. It all comes crashing down when revelations about the past and about those who were close to her are thrust out in the open.
1. Chapter 1

It is funny how things happen in life. They come from nowhere and catch you unawares. It's when you least expect it and can cause the course of your life to take a drastic change. It's happened to many of us and will happen to even more before the world ceases to exist. This is a story that attempts to bring hope to those who desperately need the hope. This is one situation where you don't have to experience the frustration, and even the pain, of the blindsiding of Anna without knowing that it will work out in the end.

A loud, caustic noise shatters the silence of the peaceful morning. It is quickly followed by groaning and a few choice words from the lump in the bed next to it. "Who is calling me so early in the bloody morning?"

"Hello?," the lump sleepily mumbles into the mouth piece.

"Good! I am sooooooo glad you are awake. I've been waiting allllllllll morning to call you!," a chipper, female voice shouts on the other end.

"...Elizabeth, it is 9 in the damn morning you twat! How could you've been waiting all morning?," the rather displeased lump, also known as Anna, growls.

"Well Daddy woke me up a little early to tell me the great news! Guess what that is!"

"Just tell me. Now!," Anna snipped.

"Welllllllllllllllllllll, you know the Malfoy ball that is hosted every year? Well we were invited this year!," Elizabeth screeched excitedly, "Isn't that just so fitting with Daddy's new status?"

"Simply superb. This really couldn't have waited until a _reasonable_ hour of the morning? I'm really happy for your family and all, but I am going back to sleep. Goo-"

"NO!WAIT!IHaven'tToldYouTheBestPartYet!," was rushed before Anna had a chance to escape, "Daddy said you could attend the ball with us!"

"Bloody hell!," Anna groaned.

"I know right! It's just sooooooooooo awesome and a dream. You do have something appropriate to wear? I know that you don't have much experience with events like this, but that is only to be expected from a school like the _South Carolina School of Magik_. At the _Reim School of Magic_ we have balls like this allllllll the time."

Anna was becoming increasingly frustrated with the conversation and with Elizabeth. It seemed that Elizabeth tried to make herself see better and above Anna every chance she got. The sad thing was that Elizabeth never realized that Anna knew that Elizabeth's last name, O'Malley, was not actually as pure as she lead everyone to believe. She did not descend from the original line, rather a wayward branch that had bred with muggles. This was not really important to Anna as far as friendship was concerned. It may have irked her that she was being belittled, but allowed Elizabeth to continue her fantasy.

"Elizabeth, why would I want to attend that?" Anna questioned, having stopped attending the Malfoy's annual ball when she was still young, and had no plans of ever suffering through another one of them again.

"It is the event of the season! Who wouldn't want to be there? I thought you'd be more grateful for the once in a life time invitation that **I** am extending you!"

"I appreciate the invitation, but I fear that I may not meet the standards set and will bring shame to your family. Why don't you invite Salina? I'm sure she would love the invitation."

"Awwww why would you put me in that position? You know she would never fit in there and would probably do something inappropriate with her lack of manners. Please?" Elizabeth pleaded and whined.

"Ugggg, when is the damn thing?"

"Yeay! It is December 24 of course," she told Anna in that "everyone knows that" voice.

"Oh darn. I really cannot make it; Grandmother already has made me promise that I will attend another Christmas celebration with her on the eve. What terrible luck that is…"

"…You're lying aren't you? If I call her and ask her will she tell me the same thing?" Elizabeth intensely questioned.

"That doesn't deserve a reply. Good bye Elizabeth, I am going back to sleep. Ask Salina."

Anna hung up promptly, muttering to herself that that girl was a serious piece of work. Atleast Grandmother came through for her, even though she was still dreading having to attend the event that was scheduled for the two of them. Grandmother had decided that it was time for Anna to make her debut in the social scene of which she was expected to be a part. Anna, of course, was so excited to be forced to associate with her old mates….


	2. Chapter 2

Once awakened by the call, Anna could not return to the tranquil realm of sleep. Groaning, she forced herself out of bed and made her way down to the dining room for breakfast and, if she was lucky, diversions. Depending on which one of her Grandfather's "associates" had a morning meeting with him, she may have an enjoyable show of humiliation or banter.

Alas this morning no one was present at the breakfast table, but there was a note left in her place.

_Darling,_

_Your Grandfather had business in Germany this morning and I had a meeting to attend. I have left you some money to go shopping at the store of your choosing; I trust you will find something appropriate. Perhaps Elizabeth and Salina would like to accompany you?_

_Do be sure to be present at dinner tonight as we need to discuss some new developments with your familial situation._

_Love,_

_Grandmother and Granddaddy_

_P.S. No you cannot leave Elizabeth out!_

Anna just groaned into her breakfast, but dutifully sent the invitations to her two friends to meet her in the Charleston market. Her day had just gotten longer and more tedious. She would have to be sure to bring enough tea to get her through the day.

Anna apparated in to the Daughters of the Confederacy's building, located in front of the market, and walked outside to meet her friends. The two girls coming with her on her shopping endeavor were complete opposites of one another, barely able to be civil to one another. Elizabeth was high strung, full of herself and high maintenance, but occasionally showed potential for being a caring person; everyone has their demons and past. Salina was the exact opposite. Down to earth and very friendly, she and Anna got along with each other much better than they did with Elizabeth.

"Oh my gaaaaaadddddd! Hey girl! How have you been?!," a high pitched voice whined from behind Anna. She spun around to face Elizabeth coming in for air kisses and Salina with a look of murder on her face.

"…I'm fine? About the same as I was when I saw you yesterday."

"Well I am awesome, do you like my new outfit? These jeans are one of Gabby's fabulous designs and they haven't even hit the boutiques yet," Elizabeth gushed, while trying to strike a glamorous pose. Behind her Salina rolled her eyes and glared at the back of Elizabeth's head.

"Guess how I got them?" Neither Salina nor Anna replied, but walked off as Elizabeth launched into a pointless tale of how her "daddy" got them for her with his important connections.

The girls spent the afternoon shopping for dresses for their respective balls, though some were less enthused about the trip than others. Once they had found respectable or "look good enough to get a marriage proposal" dress, they decided that they would go to Anna's house to catch-up and plan out the activities they wanted to do over break.

"I am sosososososososo excited for this ball, Daddy is going to try to arrange a betrothal with one of the families, though I'm not supposed to say which one….okay fine, I'll tell you. The Malfoy's." At this declaration, both Anna and Salina burst out laughing, causing Elizabeth to narrow her eyes at them.

"Wow, I thought we were a progressive, modern society and had left the era of women being horses, good for nothing more than looking pretty and breeding," said Anna. Honestly, she had very little issue with arranged marriages, so long as they were done for the right reasons with input and power for the female involved. In Elizabeth's case, it was a feeble attempt to emulate the social strata of which she and her family so desperately desired to be a part.

"Really, Elizabeth, have your parents even met the Malfoy's before?" inquired Salina.

"Well no, but it is just a minor detail. Obviously we are known to them, how else would we have received an invitation?"

This line of conversation continued for quite a while, with Elizabeth trying to defend and promote what she and her parents were doing. Anna and Salina enjoyed her struggle to justify her actions and her inclusion in the Malfoy festivities, as well as her increasing anger that they were not impressed and did not care as she expected. Eventually, she gave up and decided that her mother wanted her home, storming off to the guest apparation point.

"I hate you so much, you know," spat out Salina, "you are bailing on the Malfoy ball, leaving me to suffer through all of her crap PLUS that of her family. They don't even like me! Apparently my blood is not blue enough for them."

"Oh stop it, they don't like me, they just like to try and show how much better they are than I am. Plus, everyone's blood is the same color blue until it hits oxygen. I promise it won't be that bad, though if things get too uncomfortable, send me a message and I'll sneak you into whatever ball Grandmother is dragging me."

"Fine," sighed Salina, "Well I guess I better go home and help Oliva with the children; they drive her crazy and she will just leave them when they get to be too much."

This left Anna alone to her thoughts, causing her to ponder what her Grandmother could possibly have to tell her.


	3. Chapter 3

Anna was waiting at the dining room table when her grandparents finally came home. Frustrated and worried about what the news was, she was very snippy with them as they inquired how her day and shopping trip went, as well as, telling her about their own days.

"Did you find an appropriate dress?" her grandmother asked, "this is a very important ball and it is traditional ball costume. Please tell me you have the correct style!"

"Grandmother, you are no longer in society, please stop being so shallow. Yes, I left it in your room to inspect and adjust as you see fit. Are you really not going to tell me who will be hosting the ball we are attending?"

"All in good time. It will be a pleasant surprise for you and a test to see if all of our hard work has paid off."

"I know my work has, she was amazing in the field last week!" declared her Grandfather, defusing some of her Grandmothers overbearing enthusiasm, "she did better than the adult members and saved Johnson's ass."

"William! Don't use such language, it is vulgar and uncouth. And all of that is very good, but we both know she struggles with the social part of her position," admonished her Grandmother.

Anna's grandparents headed the American resistance to Voldemort, though no one would have ever known or guessed their involvement. They did well to distance themselves, in the public eye, from the whole conflict so they would be in the best strategic position to run the operations. Anna grew-up around most of the original members, from the days of Grindelwald's destruction, and began participating in the group's activities when she was 14 (though her Grandmother thought she began just last year). With her initiation into the resistance, she began to learn about what her Grandparents really did and was groomed to take over from them if it was needed. She was a quick learner, naturally athletic and could play the society games as well as any Slytherin.

"Thank you Granddaddy, and Grandmother, I will be fine. Please stop stressing and just trust me. I know what my mission is, what our mission is, and I will not fail. May we just talk about the family thing you mentioned in your letter?" begged Anna.

"Of course, but only briefly. It will be furthered discussed at the meeting tonight. Your parents are currently missing. There has been no sign of them for the past week and no one can get a hold of them by phone. We are not sure what has happened, but assume the worst." Anna listened to her Grandmother's words, processed them, but showed no reaction.

"Are we going to try to find them? Who all knows about this?" she asked.

"Yes, of course we are, but it will be further discussed at tonight's meeting. No one knows except the three of us for now, but the original members will be notified tonight. We will tell the others if it is needed, but I would like to hand this as privately as possible," said her Grandmother.

"And Francis? Are we telling her or Aunt Eustace?"

"No, they do not need to be worried. It would not help things for your sister or aunt to know," declared her Grandmother.

Anna sat still for a few moments thinking things through and trying to figure out who would want to take or kill her parents. After Voldemort disappeared the first time, they renounced the magical world and assimilated into the muggle lifestyle. They were horrified by the atrocities that had occurred and did not want to be a part of such events, nor did they want to raise their children in such an environment. People did not know if or when Voldemort, or someone as bad/worse, would rise and all the evil would begin again. Anna and her sister were only allowed to return to the magical world due to pleading by family members and the dangers of not teaching children how to control their magic. Her parents settled into the muggle world without issue and had lived there quite happily for 15 years. Few people knew where they were and fewer knew they avoided magic, so their disappearance did not bode well for their livelihood.

"The meeting is in an hour at the usual spot. Don't be late."

"Yes ma'am."

Dinner was eaten in silence, barring the occasional comment on the food or request for some dish. As soon as she was able to, Anna left the table and sought refuge in her room.


End file.
